POPCORN!...healthy snack? =P

The first time I tasted Garrett's popcorn was in Sentosa's Resorts World.
I fell in love with it and I introduced it to my family when they came to a visit.

We ordered the 'Chicago Mix' which is a mix of cheese & caramel coated popcorns.

It's a pretty new store and so far I've only seen it in 2 places in Singapore.
Asides from Sentosa they also have one in City Link Mall at City Hall MRT.

With my phone cam the one on the left is caramel the other cheese...they also have caramel with almond, cashew and macadamia.  Also the the original flavours buttery and plain.  I love the mix of caramel and cheese because sweet and salty go so well.  I like to get one caramel and one cheese and eat it at the same time...yuuummmmm....

Their napkin made me laugh.  Love is messy because the popcorn is really greasy!
(hence...popcorn a healthy snack?? in this case might not be so healthy but oh so delicious!)
I crave for it but just treat myself to it once in a while...not too cheap too!  I order the small size but it's ALOT.
=)

A Link to My Post

Yesterday (Saturday) was a loooong and fun day.

Click this link to read a post I wrote on our church blog.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and hope we're all refreshed for another week!

Kite Flying at Marina Barrage

Our church had an outing last Sunday.  Not everybody came but it was still fun!

Frank wrote a post on it (click here) to see what we did through all the pictures.  It's kinda great that I don't have to write a whole post about it because someone else already did and I can just direct you there =P

But I did take a few pictures (only 2!) on my phone (I can't believe I forgot my camera at home).

Go to the link I gave you to see previous pictures before seeing mine or you will think the people in my pictures are crazy..ahaha.

Bayu & Frank staring into space....

Bayu with a string that's defying gravity!

I actually wanted to take a picture of the actual kite size by letting Bayu hold it up but forgot to do it.  The kite he was flying was the one with the extremely long tail (again click on the link I gave above)!

Also, at one point I tried to count the kites flying int he sky and I counted 30 but there was much more later...in fact there was a "kite jam" in the sky...

It was fun....you guys should come visit us and let's go kite flying again!

Become like little children?!

Yes, I am a teacher and yes teachers teach and students learn.  But there's something else... I also learn from my students.

In Matthew 18:3 Jesus says "Truly, I tell you unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

As "grown ups" how can we be like children?  Learn from them!  Of course since I'm the one who spends the most time with them I'll be the one to share with you have I have learnt.

These are a just a few experiences and observations i've had with my students in the past year =)

• They show their emotions anytime, anywhere, whoever is there.  It doesn't mean we need to cry all the time too. But children are not ashamed/afraid to express their true feelings.  Sometimes as grownups, we don't want to admit or share our problems to other's or to God.
• They LAUGH.  The kids laugh and are amused by the litllest things.  And when they laugh they laugh from their heart and stomach.  We also need to relax and just let go and laugh...enjoy the moment...enjoy life!
• They ask for help.  They are not afraid to ask for help.  If they don't know how to do something they will come back to their teacher calling out their teacher's name every other second until their teacher responds.  Even if the teacher says "no" they will still say "please help me".  They think their teachers can do anything!  If only we could look at God that way and never to give up to call on Him.  If only He is the first one we turn to each time.  Our spirit should be : "Who cares who I am or what my background is. I'm calling on God! I know he'll listen and come to my rescue!"
• They trust in the comfort and promise of their teacher.  One student started crying because she didn't know how to do her work and she was afraid of making mistakes.  So I took her on my lap and told her she could do it.  I told her I would help her and I'm happy that she is trying her best.  She listened stopped crying and went back to her work as if she never had a care in the world before that.  If only I could rely on God's promises to the point where I don't have to worry!
• To them everybody is the same.  Particularly the age of my students (if they have not already been influenced by parents or others)  gender, skin color, richness,poorness, way of dressing is far from their mind.  I feel conscious in front of grownups if I may look "fat" in my clothes of I'm not wearing makeup and my pimples are exposed.  But in front of my kids I can be who I am and they still love me and give me hugs and they don't even notice or care about the stuff I'm conscious about!  If only we could treat each other like that and just love others for who they really are.
• They see the good things in you!  I haven't been the perfect, kindest or patient teacher...not at all...but each time I talk to their parents, their parents tell me that their child goes home and tells them that they love me, have fun and I'm very good to them.  I just say thank you guiltily to the parents and am in awe at the childrens innocence. 

The are the few, main things I have learnt from my students over the past year and I know it won't be the last.  I have learnt God's love, loving myself and loving others through them.  They are a blessing in my life (and a curse when they're hyperrr!!!! AHHHH hehehjk!)

Of course I also learn that just because I am older than them that does not mean I know everything.  There was one time where I couldn't understand why the computer game I was teaching them didn't tell us if we accomplished the game but one girl said "oh I know!" and told me that the games is finished when all the white stars turn purple - something I didn't notice but helped me alot.

So this is me sharing my blessings to you this evening.  =)

The Day Before Valentines

Click here to see the post I wrote on our church blog about one of our fun outings!  I won't post about it on my blog just read it from there =)

more photos on this link here.

mini mini update

I've been really blessed lately and really can't wait to post my thoughts and what I've been up to but I have a major project I need to work on and I can't concentrate on a blog post until this project is out of the way.

so once again ttyl...really soon hopefully!

Excited!!!

My Mom and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary is coming up this June 7.  Haze, Bayu, Richmond and I have been brainstorming on how we could make this anniversary really special for them.

Just this afternoon Hazel and I had a brilliant idea!  Now we are so excited to start planning.  Yay!  Another exciting event this year to look forward to.  Can't really leak out the details yet as we want it to be a surprise to them (yes, my mom reads my blog now and then hehehe).


30 years?  I can only fathom that.......God has blessed me with such wonderful parents! =P

FML???!!! 5555555

I'm the kind of person who likes to make to-do lists.  That's just one way of being my organized self.

Sometimes, while I'm in the middle of something I'll remember that I need to add a few things to my to-do list and because I don't have my pen and to-do notebook (the notebook where I put my to-do list of course!) I make acronyms in my head to remember for when I'm free and am able to  write it down in my notebook.

It sometimes goes like this PMM for Phone call, Mark books, Meeting.

While I was on the train this morning I made an acronym again: Forward mail, Medical cert, Leave procedure...FML...hahaha...oops!

Monday on a Wednesday

Hi guys!  I've been sick and missed work on Monday and Tuesday...so now I'm back at work today but still on meds (drowwssyyy...)...

Catch up with you all soon!

XoXXO

Please?

In case you didn't notice (hehehe..hint..hint..)

There is a box at the right column of this page kinda blue in color and it says "shoutbox"

Yes...just type in Hi! every now and then ok!

Would love to hear from you =D =D

You Can Still Smile

You know, I've learnt lately that having a closer relationship with God doesn't mean that everything is suddenly going to be all wonderful and workout or that the world and everything else will fall into place.

In fact nothing really changes...there are still problems, stress, arguments, discouragement like any other day...

the only difference... is that from a different light/perspective/eyes...all the ugliness of the world is still around... but with God we have hope in his promise and hope is a good thing =)

You know what?!

Yay.  It's Friday!  It's the weekend!

Thank you God for the bringing me through another week and for another Sabbath day!

Did you know?...This week has been EXACTLY ONE YEAR that I've been working at SDAK!

It's the longest I've ever worked in one place since I graduated.

3 months at AIMS for my internship
8 months at The Village International Education Centre
3 months at Rosemount Kindergarten
and now 1 year here!

I've been waiting for the day I'd finally reach 1 year at a work place.  It's a miracle =D

Challenge!

I've been trying to do regular DDR exercise..so far so good!

I'm getting good!  Anyone wanna challenge me?

Wahahahahahahaha.....

Links

I created links at the side of my blog page that goes to the school website and facebook of where I work....just in case you're curious about what my work place is about and WHO maintains the website and facebook..which is ME...MUAHAHAHAHHA...

I'm kerazzy.

Sharing

I don't know if I've shares this with you.

http://rintaciang.blogspot.com/

rintaciang is a mix of indonesian words - rindu (missing you) +cinta (love)+sayang (honey, dear, babe..whatever love couples call each other hahaha.)

It is a blog I created...actually the first blog I ever created.  I made it when Bayu left Mission College and before he went to Singapore.  He finished one semester before me so I had one semester without him in Mission College.

Good memories!  Especially the ones of my dorm life and friends.  But I remember that feeling of having to be apart from Bayu...It was so painful! =(  I'm so glad I married him  and now I can be with him forever =)

Bondi Rescue Season 6 Ep1

This is for Onya!




(I accidentally posted this on my church blog! Ah! Oops...I didn't select the blog because I was used to uploading it straight to my own personal blog)

Yeah this is the blog of our church. A few of us are helping to contribute and blog on this blog =)

?!?!

My feelings today..I absolutely love my job.

Today I made a facebook page for the school I work at.  I'm getting used to updating our website...and it's fun!...Lots of maintaining...but fun =)

Just like I enjoy blogging, I know I'll enjoy the facebook and website part of my job.

Stillll......doesn't mean I'm not exhausted by the end of the day...who wouldn't be after 9 hours straight of work (with 20 minute lunch break) plus 3 hours total of traveling a day??

More

Our Church Blog

Click on the link above read more and see more pictures on how we celebrated CNY as a church.

Be Specific

Our prayer requests should be specific.

My [specific] prayer request for today is:

"Dear God, please give me a niece...but a nephew would be just as nice.  If that niece...or nephew were born in December that would be perfect...that means my niece...or nephew... would need to be conceived around March. Amen."

Now...I'm just waiting for the good news =D

P.S.  Year 2011 please.

Lunch Break

Lunch Break!  I managed to finish lunch in 10 minutes so I have 10 minutes left and I want to use it to blog...


Well, it's a Monday.  It's pretty hard to go back to everyday routine after a short break (2 days of holiday).  What made me get myself up today and not too grouchy was my thankfulness that I have a job.  This particular job at that =)...I don't know what my state of mind would be if I were still doing last year's job =P


I want to talk about my past holiday.  It seemed like it never happened because it flew by so fast!  But yet so many things happened in that short time.  I had half day on Wednesday, I got back and slept all afternoon and did nothing in the evening.


Then on Thursday we woke up really late and did spring cleaning (although Chinese tradition is that you do the spring cleaning BEFORE Chinese New Year..haha) cooked and then hung out with LM.  In my previous post I wrote down what we did.

Well,  LM also known as Julaila, is someone I met at church.  I had seen her around but never really talked to her.  Then when she got baptised when pastor Mark Finley came she had to give some background infor onherself to Bayu and that's when I found out she's my age!

We started to get to know each other much better when she started to have Bible study with us at home once a week and we invited her to join our youth activities with us since we're the same age group as others =D

Ok yeah Thursday night we played DDR until 10.30 and then the next morning we met to go to auntie Roxanna's house for CNY meal. That's where we swam all afternoon for almost 4 hours.

On Saturday we had church, lunch, etc as usual BUT in the afternoon we went to visit 3 houses!  That's what the tradition is.  Visiting family and friends.  3 houses in one afternoon. The 3rd house was Jerome's where we stayed and had dinner until 10.30 pm.  I had fun =)

Then Sunday morning I met up with some youth and we had breakfast together  then we went to the arcade.  That was FUN too! I officially love century egg now!

breakfast...

After that we went to Auntie Pat's house where we ate again, played games, hung out, ate some more....

Then we went to Auntie Linda's house...had drinks...more snacks...kepo kepo-ed around their house haha and looked at pictures when all the aunties and uncles were our age!

Then finally, we went to Auntie Phyllis house...and ATE...AGAIN...

Then got home exhausted...but happy =)

As you've known in previous posts I've been complaining about my zero social life and the loneliness...but I'm so happy and believe that God has blessed bayu and I with the people that have come into our lives.  We're glad to get to know and spend time Frank, Simon, Shawn, Jerome, Chuen Rong, Shi Rong, Danielle, Eliana, Stacia, Hydon, etc. etc. (hahaha sorry for the etc. etc.) and everyone else.

I didn't forget Alvina and LM...I thank God most of all for those girls!....I have more girlfriends here now!....they've helped me ease my loneliness ALOT.

by the way I'm not in my lunch break anymore...it's now 9.30 pm and I'm just continuing where I left off (at the 3rd paragraph i think...)

Ok...goodnyt ppl!...I wrote this more for myself so years or months down the road I can look back at this post and it will bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart =D

So what new things did I learn this CNY?

• Bring 2 oranges to each house you visit.  Give it to the person who lives in the house and they'll exchange it with 2 oranges too. Something to do with exchanging luck? I think.  So we're never out of oranges!
• It's so fun to gather in large group around a table with chopsticks mixing the ingredients for the dish (? duno name?) on the table saying 4 words of good fortune? hahah...of course its supposed to be said in Mandarin(?)..(hahaha my info is so inaccurate like wikipedia) but I used 4-words in english (happy happy new year, God bless us always, Gong Xi Fa Cai, ....heheh ermm yeah)

check out my face...MUAHAHAHAH

• Hmmmm...feel like giving ang pao (that's the way Thais say it) next year! MUAHAHA
• Visit, visit, visit, cookies, cookies, cookies...red, red, red...
• and good time of the year to do major spring cleaning, throw away bulky items for free and buy new clothes!

I'm sure there's more but this is what stood out the most to me =)

'Beautiful Saviour' Planetshakers

Can't find the words to praise Him? This song can say it for you =D

Pancake not Crepe

There are many thai dishes/snacks I love and the crepe bayu is eating is one of them...This crepe is found in Platinum Mall but can also be found at the pak soi of Pridi 37 near 7/11...I like to order crepes with prik pao, tuna and khai (egg).  

I couldn't make the thin crepes so I just bought pancake mix and had pancake with tuna and prik pai instead...so yummmmy still...ummm the darkper patches aren't burnt parts but the chilli I spread over the pancake =P

Golden Mile! -little Thailand to me sells this gigantic can of prik pao ( no small ones but oh well)...There are lots of delicious dishes that prik pao can be used in.

Inside the can.  Prik pao literally means chilli burned/bbq-ed.  It's vegetarian and not spicy =D

Today/Friday ---CNY, Church Family, Swimming, Food

Tradition where we mix this food (tasted like som tum to me..hehehe) all together =)

Didn't plan to swim but couldn't resist!

Yes, me pondering...

Look at me I throw the ball so artely/cantily

Lion Bum

Yesterday we had CNY program with the kids and the teachers basically "entertained" them haha...For example a colleague and I did the lion dance..ME! Hahah...it was fun but tiring..seriously.  I was the behind of the lion and I had to bend over as well as jump, hop skip, walk run...it was fun though. ..did make a few kids cry hahahaha...

View from inside the lion...

Reflection...I think I can get a better picture later =D

Lion Legs

Hellloooooo

Greetings

Just wanted to show you my teddy bear in my high school uniform - well- in a smaller version of my high school uniform haha...and that's Stitch Bayu's doll with stitch hankie, stitch massage stick & stitch towel ...hmmm...this blog is so random...

Happy Day

Woke up late.  Hallelujah!

Did some major cleaning but left one bedroom and the laundry for tomorrow.

LM came over.  Bayu cooked a vegetarian dish and chicken adobo for us =p I made fruit salad and we had a good dinner.

Then I introduced her to DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and other Wii games.  Haha we had fun and definitely gonna invite her back again to be my exercise buddy..muahahaha...I'm glad she lives nearby and our workplaces are at the same place too so we've made future plans to meet up go shopping watch a movie maybe? Hehe.

Bayu prepared dinner and our wii games =D

Tomorrow is Friday..already?!...we have lunch with church members...so see you tomorrow on blog!

for me nov 7,8,9

**Errrmmm...sorry you guys this post was something I wrote 2 years ago and I left it as a draft until now...I thought that if I posted it it would place itself where it was supposed to 2 years ago instead it's the latest blog...haha...so yeah it probably won't make sense to you =P...I cant hide the post and don't want to delete it sooo...yeah...

Remember my post Yesterday? Remember the last 5 paragraphs? I also just remembered the 3 prayer requests I made.

1. I won't regret going on the retreat.
2. I can open up myself and be myself in the retreat.
3. That I can know where I really stand in my relationship with God.

I even wrote " Maybe nubmer 3 won't be answered that weekend..."

God never ceases to amaze me - he answered numbers 1, 2...and 3.

It was an, and I get these words from thesaurus.com, awesome, awe-inspiring, breathtaking, beautiful weekend. Still, there are no words to really desxribe it =P

I got to make lots of new friends. And through them I realized that...I have an accent of my own! Isn't that cool? 55555.

And through the worship I have come to realize some things that I never really realized before: I always thought that I was meant to be in Thailand. But as you know I'm going to be in Singapore. I was so burdened with my fears about leaving this place and the future to be with Bayu and his caling to pastor in Singapore. But I now know and I now accept that it's not only Bayu's calling in Singapore...but...it is ALSO my calling.

I mean God has called me to marry Bayu because He believes in us and knows that we can be a strong team for this world. I'm telling myself " Hello! God believes in you! The God of the universe believes in you!! He's leading you!" And I accept that calling whole heartedly. Now there is this certain calm, peace and happiness in me. I will go where He leads and I will be happy there.

So Mom, Dad, Hazel don't worry too be happy =) God will still bless us as a familiy who has always been so close. We might not know how we can make it being "apart" but God will take care of it I'm sure.

Well, the weekend went by all too fast but with memories to last forever. You can see some pictures on fb that some of my friends posted up. I wasn't able to take much at all. So hard with just a camera phone.

Another hi-light was the NO TALENT SHOW we had. I laughed a lot that weekend but that night of the show it was insane. Funny mak mak. Sud yod. You can find some videos of that on fb too.

When@IKEA

Check out my sister's blog post about when I brought them to IKEA while they were here =)

Ho-ho-holiday

Holiday!...it's going to pass by too fast!  Today I entertained the kids with my colleagues by doing the lion dance.  Will get pictures on that soon.

I got home at 1 instead of the usual 7 pm and what did I do?  I slept until 6! Ha! Yeah....

Well, talk about the influence one person can have on another...I read Chuen Rong's blog and got inspired to write on my blog...now RJ made his first blog in 2 years! ..And haz?  Well, she "says" she want to put more blog entries again..haha...Oh oh and the main point of this blog Bayu has revived his blog(s) too!

1. Life's Scrutiny - Bayu's main and philosophical blog =P
2. The Third World Tongue - Bayu's food blog
3. Devotion for the Tired Church - Bayu's devotional blog. You can go here for devotions.

I will try to get him to update more despite his busy schedule ;) He is not discouraged to write even though some ignorant person left a comment saying "Please fix your english before I can say that you are intelligent"...or something mean like that =(

Well, I guess that's all for now =)

Starbucks Ice Cream?!

Mocha Frappucino, Peppermind Mocha, Coffee, Vanilla Bean Frapuccino, Signature Hot Chocolate, Caramel, Java.......mmmmmmmm....At the side they have a a tick mark or x or non to indicate what kind of drink/icecream it is and if it has coffee or not...but $15.90??? So ex one meh?

Stock up!

Well, I've got 10 minutes till work starts so gotta do this fast!  haha...don't I just love blogging...anyways, Bayu and I went grocery shopping yesterday to stock up for the CNY holidays.  As I mentioned it is the biggest holiday here and everything and I mean EVERYTHING is closed.  Since Bayu's and my life revolves around food we made sure that we stocked up so that we wouldn't be miserable while all the shops are closed.

Of course I wouldn't believe that I would need to stock up if it weren't for the advice of my colleagues and the memory of last year when I went to the central area where Singapore is the most busy but everything was closed...it was like a ghost town...no more like those zombie movies where everything is empty and the main characters are the only ones left and then get the shock of their lives when zombies come out of nowhere to eat them....anyways, getting off topic...

So yeah,  bought our groceries and ready to survive CNY hahaha.  We invited a friend from church to have dinner with us tomorrow night - our version of family reunion dinner (one of the traditions done during CNY).

God First

Well,  we had testimonies in place of a sermon last Sabbath and I was really moved/touched by all the testimonies given.  God is a good God and I'm so glad I know him and that he loves me.

There is a verse I came across and just want to share.  It's found in Nehemiah 9:17b --- But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.

I don't have a good memory or the brains to keep information long term (only God knows) but I do believe it is important to remember his word not just for ourselves but the impact it can have on others when we share it with them.  I do envy those who can remember verses from memory without any struggle but that won't stop me from trying.  After all words of encouragement from me (a human) has not real meaning or foundation compared to God's word.

Actually lately, I've been out of touch with God and I don't want to be and sometimes I actually choose to wallow in self pity instead of spending time with him.  I actually neglected the Bible and praying for a while after all...what does he care??  But I know he cares and thick faced me knows that he will greet me with open arms when I decide to go back to him again. Who else and where else can I turn to if no to him?

I've been wanting/wanting- to- do many things lately until I realised I'll never get anything or anywhere like this.  For example, how can I "discipline" myself to have a healthier life style (aka exercise) if I can't even "discipline" myself to spend quality time with my God?  How shameful of me to only take out my Bible when I'm waiting for the bus or the train or in-between classes.  Like he's not important enough and I just spend time with him only when I have the "spare time" wow...how insulted he must be.

I'm not making any promises (i'm so bad at keeping-in-touch promises) but I will try to put God first and as a priority in my life.  After all, I can't accomplish anything else without him I know that. God first and everything else will fall into place...or make sense...that's how I see it...if not well, I don't want anything else as above him =)

Hehehe...yeah now and then you'll get a "philosophical" post from me...like once a year or every other year...

Subway Brunch

After our Saturday Nyt! Outing bayu and I awoke to a very rainy, gloomy day but we had made plans to go out on Sunday and I saw (on fb) that Shawn (one of our youth) said he would be working at subway at a new mall nearby our place so we decides to do a "visitation" haha.  So we spent some time exploring the new mall (Nex) and ordered food from Shawn then went back to spend the rest of the day lazying around at home and enjoying the whether. 

wheat, 6inch, tuna please...thnx =P

Saturday Nyt, Saturday Nyt!

Another youth outing =D Started out with a big group of 21 and dwindled to a few of us by the end...company was good, food was too much and no one believed when I said that was the only social life I had =P

I don't know...

Tadaaa....

Oh wait, we took this picture before the group photo..yes, this is Loving Hut a Vegetarian/vegan restaurant.

Dessert time at McDo...

=D CNY

Chinese New Year - Singapore's Most celebrated - even I, who has no clue or background with this celebration, am in the CNY mooooood =)

Thank you boss for the CNY gift...

and ang pao...=)

Classroom door deco..year of the rabbit!

Classroom window deco....

High Tech

Bayu and I applied for online banking.  So basically you apply online and then 3 days later in the mail they send this gadget thing where when you press the button some numbers come up and that is your password for the day (or when you log in to your internet bank).  So yeah! I just thought that was "cool" Muahaha.

Working Space

Well, I haven't exactly updated on my "new" job description.

On my previous blogs I showed pictures of my classroom and work of the kids and I had fun as a class teacher but now I am a computer teacher!  Yeah! I love my new job description.

Adding to being a computer teacher though I still help with office work, I am on the IT committee (taking care/inventory of IT stuff) and in charge of contacting or "trying" to fix any IT problems (me fix?!?!! ahhh!) - yes there is some stress there considering I'm not an "IT" person and suddenly the whole school thinks I can solve any IT problem (wut?! no!) haha...

I now have 218 students.  I teach K1 to K2.  4 classes a day Monday to Thursday and replacement/office work on Fridays.  I still work from 8 to 5.   I still leave the house at 6.30 and arrive home around 7. And yes, I'm still exhausted.  But I'm happy with my new job =D

And of course here are some pictures!...

Still getting ideas to decorate my class room...Oh and there are 16 computers which I need to disinefect everyday =P

My "table"

Pictures of 2 very memorable occasions with my family.  Seeing their pictures and remembering our good times helps me to get through each day.

Time to mark books!..218 books to be exact. HAHA this is a lazy day I don't usually do it all at once.

Students workbooks all organised!

Shopping Memories

 I miss going shopping with my sister and mom! =D  Now we just show each other what we bought through skype and go on wishing we were together when we bought it.  But we did use our shopping time wisely when we were together.  Here are some pix when Haz came to visit.  We were at Zara trying on their hats....

Sisterr...this is the wall paper on my phone..I miss you so much leoy!

 

Dreaming of our next shopping spree...........MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA